checkmate
by 5012
Summary: i dont own naruto. i altered the timeline where naruto learnt how to use sage mode, then controlling kyuubi while still on the trip with jiraya. starts from sasuke retrival onwards.some 'bleach' powers included
1. Chapter 1 : prolouge

_summary:_ in this story i am going to change the timeline abit so that naruto actually uses his training trip with jiraya, i dont like that in the anime, even after 3 years training he only had odama rasengan to show for it.

i dont own naruto, wish i did but i is my first and only disclaimer, so i say this once, i dont own naruto or any of the characters or techniques in this story

_Chapter 1._

As he lay down in the hospital bed, he wondered how every thing was beginning to spiral out of control. "And now even sakura is trying to be strong for me, but I can see it in her eyes " he thought, "she is looking for someone to blame , and I jus happen to fit the bill."

"No", he said to himself, "no emo thoughts, I gotta get stronger " Hmm, maybe its time to take up Ero-sennin's offer and go on this training trip, although im kinda scared of goin down the same road like with Kakashi-sensie. Kami that was a dissaster, jus look at where I am right now. Damn this isnt helping I need to be objective, "wonder what Sandaime jiji would have me do?" he wispered to himself. He then thought back to when his first and at the time, only, pillar of strength was still alive.

FLASHBACK.

He was excited, his Jiji had invited him over to his office today for his birthday present . His week was one of the worst he has ever had and he suspected that's why his Jiji had caved and decided to give him his present a whole two weeks before his actual birthday. He idly thought to why his week was so rough and couldn't come up with a proper explanation. He wondered why people seemed generally rougher and mean yet they should be celebrating the 8th annivasary of the Kyuubi's defeat (A/N he has no idea about the kyuubi at that time).

Oh well can't let this get me down. He slipped into the morning crowd that was going about doing their daily bussiness as he made his way to the Hokage's tower. The secretary gave him a dark scowl as she buzzed him into the office. The wrinkles on the hokage's face became more defined as he smilled at the young boy who was saving him from that dreded paperwork."naruto my boy, welcome, I bet you are excited about your birthday presents. I actually picked up …" he stopped mid sentence as he saw that naruto's smile was ever increasing and wondered what it was. "you said presentSss". He burst out laughing, damn he loved this kid. "Yeah I did, I want to get you started on your dream of becoming hokage, so as of next term I am enrolling you into the shinobi academy. " he momentarily paused to smile at his figurative grandson, "And, I also got you a. . . . . SHOGI SET." He couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing at Naruto's fall out of his chair.

"Jiji, that was mean, and shogi is so boring I cant sit there watching a board all day. " He pouted as he finished his rant. "Naruto, Naruto, Naruto, I got you this set to help you organise your thoughts and think faster. It helps in all aspects of shinobi life, from the battle field to doing the paperwork of a kage. And you wanna know a little secret," he inched closer to the blond and wispered, "I still play shogi whenever I get a chance for the exact same reasons." The blond boy's eyes bugged out as he lloked at the hokage. Then with all the determination an * year old could muster, he told the hokage that he wold beat him at his own game.

"I hope you do Naruto, I hope you do. Now how about we go get some ramen."

END FLASHBACK.

He had a small smile as he reminised on all the times they played againist each other after that. He wasn't the best at it but he was at the time his Sandaime Jiji was still alive, he was always trying to think up the best strategies in order to try impress him.

He realised that his thoughts were drifting from his original objective so he decided to strategize using shogi as a base, he assigned pieces to different people. He thought about who he was playing and tried to visualize his enemy the best he can. He realised that orochimaru and sasuke were near the top of his list but not quite there yet. Reason being that Ero-senin had told him about ten s-class missing nins that were after him, "there has to be someone pulling all the strings from the background," he mumbled to himself, "that's who im playing, but he is unknown so I have to picture him as some sort of fallen god that has no weaknesses for now. I guess the only way to match up to him is to become so strong that others would say the same about me, and the most pressing matter would be to keep it all secret even from my most presious people so as to have an ace in the hole so to speak." " I also have to stop running away from the fact that im the host of the kyuubi jinchuriki, so I have to find a way to turn that into a controlled strength, not some cagedrabid animal that only comes out to play when his jailor is down." I guess ero-sennin is the closed way I have to accomplishing all that.

He was so deep in thought that he never realised that jiraya was outside his window listening to him ramble his thoughts so he was startled when the very person he was thinking about entered his room. "So have you came to the conclusion that I'm your best bet?" jiraya asked. "Doesn't take a genius to figure that one out, so im guessing you heard all that," Jiraya nodded, 'I need your help, please." Jiraya simply nodded and told him to get ready coz they were leaving in the next two days. "Cant we do this tomorrow at dawn?" Jiraya sighed, "fine let me go talk to Tsunade-hime." As he left through the window he he said over his back, "we may be leaving for three to four years but luckily, orochimaru's body transfer doesn't happen for another four and a half years. Go and start packin gaki." And with that he lept off the window sill and was gone without a trace.

He walked out the hospital to find hinata walk in with a couple of flowers, "hey Hinata-chan, who are you visiting?" he asked nonchalantly. "Actually I….was coming in to see…y…you coz I heard about how the s….sasuke retrival mission went and ….y..you Chogi and N…neji-nisan are the only ones still here, the others are still in the operation room." "thanks hinata-chan that's sweet of you but I'm actually leaving on a training trip for a while and I was just checking out." "that's nice ….naruto..kun when you get back…..im sure that…you will….get sasuke…back …. "thanks hinata-chan that lifted my spirits abit, well I was heading to ichiraku's for some ramen, would you like to come." "t..thanks I would l…love some"

Hinata was esctastic and thia was because what had started as a small friendly gesture has turned into a date like experience for her and it was everything she thought it would be like and more. He ecorted her that night and just as they reached he turned to her and said, "thanks hinata-chan, that was nice, hey how about when I come back from this trip we do that again." "I would l..love to naruto…kun." She was so happy that through out the whole date, she hadnt fainted once and her stutter was decreasing as they went along. "well goodnight hinata-chan I guess I will see you later." And with that he left. Hinata watched him leave and vowed to herself that she would become stronger too and when he finally came home, she would confess her feelings for the blond.

Naruto was pleasantly surprised at the good time he had with her but decided to hurry home as he lost enough time as it is. As he entered his home, he found ero-sennin with an animated pose holding up planks that said "10" and "points" while constantly winking one eye at him. His eye was twitching as he looked at him and simply slammed the door on his face deciding to go see his baa-Chan before leaving. When he reached there, he found the comical sight of her drooling over her paperwork so he took one big breath and screamed "BAA-CHAN WAKE U..." he never got to complete as a paperweight firmly logged itself into his face. They got that out of their systems and simply talked the night away. As he was saying goodbye, he said to her, "When I get this job I'm gonna have my clones do all this paperwork as I sit back and relax." Her eyebrow twitched dangerously and Naruto could swear that steam was coming out her ears. He took a precautionary step back and asked if he said something wrong. Faster than he could blink he was crushed in a hug and thanked him profusely. He then decided to leave to finally pack before he slept.

The next morning found Naruto walking towards the gate, with the Hokage waiting for him and Jiraya by said gate. He then asked, "baa-Chan, I have been thinking, could you help Sakura in any way you can, she isn't in the best state of mind right now since Sasuke left , maybe getting someone to help with medical training," he stopped here a second to think before adding, "and Hinata too since I remember she kinda likes herbs and all." "Sure gaki, as long as you promise not to turn into a pervert …..Or any kind of pervert for that matter, not super pervert or little pervert." "You got yourself a deal."

It was then that the Ero-sennin showed up and they went off, with one final look back at his Sandaime's face on the Hokage monument and said "Watch me old-man."


	2. Chapter 2 : training 1

I don't own Naruto or any of the characters used in this fic.

Chapter two: training

Jiraya turned to the gaki next to him and said, "Alright listen up, back in the hospital you actually gave me an idea on how this is going to go, for the 1st six months we are going to start by working on your basics of taijustsu and chakra control with the help of your shadow clones (A/N; he knows about the clones thanks to Tsunade the night before), you are still not strong enough to control the kyuubi so for now we will start on bringing that up, along with your summon combination jutsu with gamakichi and gamatatsu and give me about 2000 clones and channel chakra into this paper." Naruto took a second to get accustomed with this new and serious Ero-sennin before complying. "Hmm wind nature just like I thought, now, 1000 of you go over to that lake and do the water walking exercise while spinning leaves on different parts of your body using chakra, the other 1000 go to that tree and pick out leaves and I want you to cut that them using wind natured chakra only, also learn more about wind nature from this scroll and you Naruto you are with me to work on muscle and taijustsu and coz of your healing factor, I'm gonna have fun with you, hehehehehe." Ero-sennin finished giving those orders with child like glee plastered all over his face and Naruto was honestly scared.

By the third month he was doing chakra control exercises that are done by medics but due to his reserves, he had to keep doing them daily or else his control would drop again. This morning, all 1000 of his clones cut their leaves at the same time using wind nature chakra so he was on to the next step of cutting a waterfall using the same chakra. His taijustsu was coming great but he wasn't quite there yet. Today in addition to his taijustsu, Jiraya added abit of kenjutsu and to top it off, he was also summoning the toad brothers today to begin on his summon combination ninjutsu. They found that his wind chakra works well with Gamatatsu water chakra and gamakichi fire nature. They went about with the same routine for the remaining three months and Naruto could honestly say he felt stronger with jiraya than he ever did while back home.

At the end of their six month period they found that Naruto worked very well with gamatatsu while combination with gamakichi was harder although possible when gamatatsu replaced the water with oil. He had finished his wind nature training to the level of wind natured people in Konoha but not Suna so he decided to put sending a letter to Gara on his to-do-list. His taijustsu was coming great and with kenjutsu, he still had ways to go since Jiraya didn't use a sword. All in all, Naruto was quite proud of himself for coming so far in just six months.

"Alright, next I'm going to teach you devastating attacks that will use those massive chakra stores that you have for the next six months, also I have a feeling that you would succeed where the Yondaime Hokage failed," he paused to see the gaki's expression, how he wished he had a camera sigh, "hence I will teach you the odama-rasengan and you will be creating a new jutsu, one that the Yondaime never completed while he was still alive, mixing your elemental chakra with the rasengan. Also we need to increase on the number of wind jutsus in your arsenal so send a toad to Gara to ask for wind nature exercises and also some jutsu." After a bit of thought, he added, "we will still continue with your taijustsu and kenjutsu while we go along so get to work."

1 month later, Naruto found out how Gara was made the kazekage, and was really happy for him so with renewed enthusiasm, he trained even harder for the remaining 5 months. Jiraya labeled his futon rasengan a kinjutsu because of the damage it did to the user and told Naruto not to use it again till they find a way to use it safely. Naruto had got various wind jutsu from Gara and had brought his wind nature manipulation to Temari's level; he also incorporated wind nature into his kenjutsu but still lacked an official style.

That morning as he and ero-sennin were having breakfast, he spoke up, "okay, I'm done with that, so what is next." "Damn gaki, no respect nowadays, hmm, anyway, pack up we are going to mount. Myoboku for the next year where you will become a sage and also learn about seals."

"Seals huh, sweet." Was my incredibly mature response to that, "Maybe this is the ace in the hole I need against this teme hunting me down."

_TIMESKIP_

"Alright that is done, two and a half years and I feel incredible, thanks Jiraya-sensei," I paused for a second, "now enjoy that as it lasts because that was the only time you get that title, you're soon going back to ero-sennin." We shared a laugh at that, I felt free, I was now a full complete toad sage and according to maa and paa, my sage mode is considered better than that of ero-sennin.

They top it all off by giving me this nice looking battle cape that looks similar to my father's. Speaking of found out that the Yondaime is my dad, and I understand everything that he did. Kinda makes me proud. I also found out that due to the sealing I can't perform the hirashin jutsu which incorporates the use of a bloodline limit that allows our family to sustain damages hence the reason why jiraya can't use it. Finding out that I can't use hirashin was a bit of a downer but also a strong motivator to surpass my oyaji and form an even better hirashin. I also found that in sage mode, I can use an even stronger version of the futon rasengan and I named it futon rasen-shuriken which is now a sempo jutsu which means only a toad sage can use it but unfortunately ero-sennin doesn't have wind natured chakra, only fire. With seals, I am now a seal master like the super pervert but with some more practice I can even reach my father's level.

"So where off to next ero-sennin?" I asked totally ignoring him crying anime tears at losing the title of jiraya sensei already. "Hmm, next stop Kumo, for the remainder of this training trip so as to learn how to control the kyuubi." I feel my heart pace quickening; it can't be that time already, can it? I wonder, honestly I was terrified since in order to control its power, I have to defeat it, and I don't know if that's possible. "Fine lets go, I've come too far to give up now," I said with determination shining brightly in my eyes missing jiraya's warm smile at me as I get ready mentally for this.


	3. Chapter 3 : training 2

I don't own Naruto or any of the characters used in this fic.

_CHAPTER 3: TRAINING 2_

Killer bee was, interesting, to say the least. As we entered lightening country, jonins from Kumo surrounded us and escorted us to the Raikage, a tall dark buff man named E who had a habit of breaking things whenever he was stressed. The scene we entered to was him cursing paperwork and decided to take it out on the table that was carrying the paperwork; I stifled a giggle at that coz it looked like he was accusing the "table" of working with the "evil paperwork" to bring him down.

He turned to us and said in his booming voice, "Ahh, jiraya the toad sannin, what brings you here to Kumo?" and after a second he added, "And who's the gaki?" I felt my eyebrow twitch and just before I did something incredibly childlike, his brother, killer bee, walked in, "HoHo, how you doin nine-o I'm eight-o killer bee Wheee." There were a couple of seconds where no one said a thing, all of us turned to the Raikage who was emitting a strong death aura and screamed at his brother, "_**how many times have I told you not to barge into here like you own the place, and what are you doing here?"**_ he huffed as he lost his steam, "Chill bro I jus felt nine-o over here and thought I would stop by." "Jiraya explain."

"Ah yes, that is actually why we are here, this is my new apprentice and he has the kyuubi sealed within him, he wanted help with his demon and when I did research, I found that there was a jinchuriki that had complete control here so I thought that by coming here we would get some help. Also wanted to propose an alliance between Konoha and Kumo." Jiraya stated. "Hm, interesting proposal but explain to me why I would want to train a jinchuriki from another village." "I am sure I sent a report of Akatsuki, to every hidden village and that is why I am asking for your help, make no mistake, these guys are strong and should not be underestimated and also," he whispered something into the raikage's ear and when Jiraya stood up straight again, I could swear I could swear I saw a small trickle of blood coming from the raikage's nose. I decided that maybe I could put my input, "Also from the alliance, you could find the secret to defeating your paperwork, I heard that the Hokage Tsunade, is really kicking back since she found it." "_**DONE!**_" E practically screamed so there is our jinchuriki who holds the eight tailed ox, hachibi.

"Alright gaki, why don't you and killer bee get started, I want to iron out the terms of our alliance, JA ne." with that, I left with Killer bee to begin the next one and a half years of my life.

For six months we spent working on getting used to the raw chakra of the kyuubi, and we had an accident, the kyuubi pushed too much chakra through the seal and I was close to completely releasing it. I had got to 8 tails if his chakra before my dad appeared in my subconscious and re-sealed the kyuubi. We had a touching moment before he faded away, one of the happiest and also saddest moments of my life.

Eight months after the incident, we finally decided its time for me to face the kyuubi, with Killer bee and Jiraya to back me up with external support, I entered ny mindscape. The kyuubi was watching me like its next meal and I was unnerved. As I walked up to the seal, he spoke, "**so you finally think that you can control me boy, I'm going to enjoy ripping you limb from limb, hahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.**" His voice echoed within the large chambers, I was a nervous reck but there was no turning back now, I touched the seal and ripped it off ready for the explosion of chakra I knew was coming. Unfortunately I realized that nothing could really prepare me for the raw amount that the kyuubi had, I felt despair for the first time, that is until I heard that angelic voice laughing behind me.

I slowly turned around and came face to face with a beautiful redhead whose image didn't really fit in with me about to fight the great demon lord, and all she can say is, "my little naru-chan how I've missed you, come give your kaa-chan a hug." When I heard the words kaa-chan everything else flew out the window, this was my mom and she was heavenly, I wanted to remain in her embrace forever but she told me that she had put her chakra into me to help me control the kyuubi when the time was right. My mom was here and I was going to make her proud, so with a strong resolve, I turned to face the kyuubi ready to begin. I got another surprise when I saw chains that looked like they were made of chakra ensnare the kyuubi's legs so it was trapped, I entered sage mode, and blasted the kyuubi with one odama-rasengan after another.

I saw it's inner self come out of its body whereas mine was already out, this was the moment of truth, to be able to pull the kyuubi's inner self to me or to have the kyuubi get mine, I sent clones to hold onto the chain that was attached to the demon, to pull it towards us. I pumped futon chakra into my rasengan and sent a rasen-shuriken to the demon. The rasen-shuriken hit its mark and pushed the actual body away while my clones latched onto his inner self. I sent another rasen-shuriken towards the the demons body while I absorbed its inner self into my own body.

The kyuubi was furious, it had lost to this meer human and it wanted to kill him, with a large roar, it charged at Naruto. Using the power he had just absorbed, he used a seal of the sage of six paths that binded the kyuubi down. "**DAMN YOU NARUTO, I WILL GET OUT OF HERE, DO YOU HEAR ME, I WILL KILL YOU ONE DAY ROAARR!**" "Sorry kyuubi, I really am, maybe we shall one day see eye to eye. Ja ne."

He walked back to his kaa-chan who now that she had completed her job, proceeded to tell Naruto all about how she was the previous kyuubi jinchuriki, the day he was born, warned him to watch out for a ninja in a spiral mask who she believed was Madara Uchiha and lastly told him about how much she loved him. She finished just as she was beginning to fade away but even as she faded away, she had that beautiful motherly smile all because she had told her son that she loved him, and he told her that she loved her too.

He came out of his own mindscape with a joyous shout and when he was asked about it, he merely smiled and said, "Decisions of my life doing this." "Anyway, I don't have to worry about him escaping anymore since his chakra is locked in another part of my body," he said, "but check out what happens when I use his chakra." He raised his arm and outstretched it then the most peculiar thing happened, to jiraya at least, his whole body was engulfed in a yellow flame with the new improved seal markings all over his body. "and in this state, it seems like I can detect, hmm, not chakra but intentions something like when using my sage mode but not chakra, also my range is wider and I can literally feel everyone, weird." Ero-sennin still hadn't picked his mouth from the floor as he stared at me. My shirt was a way at the other side of the room and a draft was picking up so I tried to use a chakra enhanced run over to it but something was off, I got here in the blink of an eye and I actually crashed into the wall, with my foot stuck till the ankle. One other thing, I could have swore I saw yellow all around, but all these thoughts came to a screeching halt as I turned to ask for help from jiraya only to find the most comical expression on his face, I immediately burst out laughing which seemed to shake him out of his stupor.

They both came over and helped me out of the wall, with my kyuubi-mode deactivated, I picked my shirt and asked them what had happened. "Gaki, you finally did it, you just performed the hirashin, congratulations although you did this without the kunais so it looks like you improved it but it still needs refining." "**YAHOO!**" I was too engrossed in my celebration dance to listen anymore to what the pervert had to say.

That night as I went to sleep, I decided to see the kyuubi as inorder to achieve a complete transformation, I need to be on friendly terms with the demon, I entered my mindscape and walked to the new cage for the beast, I noticed a piece of paper on the floor and as I approached it I noticed that it was the old seal, but I could feel a conscience from it so I picked it up and continued on my way the kyuubi but found that the demon still wasn't in a talking mood so I left but just as I was about to exit my mindscape, a vice called out to me.

"**Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze can you hear me,**" I looked around but found no one so called out to whatever it was, "yes I can hear you, where are you?" "**I am a piece of the shinigami's soul that was used to seal the kyuubi into you in order to balance things out here, seeing as the kyuubi is a fire bijuu so he used the piece of his soul opposite from fire, ice. But seeing as my usefulness has expired, I am mearly another soul within your body but I can manifest myself as an inanimate object on the outside world that cant be separated from you.**" "**Which brings me to why I called out to you, what weapon would you want that will always stay with you and is made fron the shinigami's soul?**" "one question, will you be able to control ice on the outside world also?" "**Yes.**" "Then I would like a sword that's probably going to be indestructible. Oh and do you have a name I can call you by?" "**It will be indestructible as it is made from reiatsu, and yes, my name is **_**HYORINMARU.**_"


	4. Chapter 4: training 3

_CHAPTER 4: TRAINING 3_

"Reiatsu? What's that?" Naruto asked, "**That is the form of chakra used by the shinigami, but you will not really be able to use it, but, you can use a minuscule amount to summon the sword to wherever you are. You will still have to use the sword with your chakra in order to use the sword's special properties.**" Hyorimaru answered.

Naruto was quiet for a while longer before saying seemingly to himself, "this may be what I need against the leader of Akatsuki, I have to get proficient in using my new special abilities before anything else, but with this I believe I can finally surpass ero-sennin. HAHAHA Yes! My goals are finally within my grasp; all I need is more practice and experience so that I don't rely on any one of these abilities too much. I will have Hyorimaru with me all the time, in my normal state, sage mode and the kyuub mode. I will use my sage mode against strong opponents and my kyuub mode on when things look truly hopeless; it's a back-up of a back-up of a back-up. HEHE."

Hyorimaru was quiet though out all this rant while watching him make such vague plans while working on manifesting the sword on the outside world and once he had finished he spoke up, "**Naruto, I have been with you from the moment the kyuubi was sealed within you and I have to tell you that when it comes to kenjutsu, your style is abysmal to say the least, I suggest that you practice with me here in your mindscape in order to get it to an acceptable level using this sword and when you leave, it would be wise to use your companion, killer bee, to acquire even more practice with your kenjutsu with other opponents and umm what did you call it, kyuub state, to work on other jutsus while in that state, much like how you can use rasen-shuriken when in sage mode.**" "Damn, you are absolutely right, so will we have enough time here in the mindscape to work on a form? And I still don't have a sword." Naruto replied. "**I can control time and space here in the mindscape so no worries, we will practice here for a year with no breaks and you will wake up tomorrow morning, and for your sword, it is right here, and I will have the exact same sword facing you so shall we begin?**" Hyorimaru stated while the open space they were standing in started to morph into w barren wasteland with large twigs sticking out of the ground that look like dead trees from a far.

Naruto removed the sword now dubbed Hyorimaru from his back while the regal green sash that was used to hold it in place simply vanished. Hyorimaru the man, stood across the wasteland with the sword in his right hand watching as Naruto got ready, a light breeze blew between them ruffling his snow white hair and as an unspoken command, and they rushed at each other clashing their swords in an x fashion. Hyorimaru overpowered Naruto and cut into his shoulder, while not fatal, was still rather deep. "FUCK," Naruto cursed loudly, **"while being loud and brash is good at helping your enemies underestimate you; in battle it is rather useless. Learn to control your emotions, Naruto. That will be your first lesson in swordsmanship."** Hyorimaru stated emotionlessly. "This is going to be one hell of a long year," Naruto muttered under his breath before attacking Hyorimaru again.

A week later, Naruto is on the ground with Hyorimaru standing above him. "**Stand Naruto, you are getting better but you are progressing slowly, you need to think outside the box, be creative, you're not a samurai, you are a shinobi. Don't tell me this is all your resolve amounts up to, you will never be able to beat Orochimaru, Sasuke or even the Akatsuki like this. Get up Naruto.**" Hyorimaru said to him while seeing Naruto trying to get up to his feet, he sighed, "**Resolve Naruto, I cannot teach you about me before you find your resolve, and the only one who can do that is you. Right now your sword only reflects your fear, when you counter, it's because you fear being killed. When you attack, you fear killing. And when you are protecting your precious people, you fear letting them down, at this point the only thing your sword speaks of is senseless fear. Hmm, I am disappointed, Naruto, what you don't need in battle is fear, and you need stronger resolve. When you counter, you don't let them cut you, when you protect someone, you don't let them die, and when you attack you kill. This is the warrior's creed. Can't you see it, Naruto, that my resolve to kill you is reflected in my sword?**" Hyorimaru stated while raising his sword that had a light blue hue around it. "**Get up, Naruto, or I will kill you.**" Naruto slowly got up to his feet. Hyorimaru could see a faint shimmer in his eyes that promised death before Naruto raised his sword too and the same light blue hue around his own sword could be seen on Naruto's.

"**Finally, I see your resolve has returned.**" Hyorimaru stated. Naruto started with a slow jog before turning into a full sprint towards Hyorimaru who in turn bent forwards and waited. At their clash a bright white light spread from the point of contact and expanded before engulfing both combatants. When the light finally reached maximum level, a blue dragon made of ice rose from in between them, spread its wings while roaring loudly and dissipated as the light started dimming. Both combatants were on a knee each while trying to suck in as much air into their lungs as they possibly can. Naruto couldn't take the strain any longer before he collapsed. Hyorimaru stood up with a dignified air around him.

"**Good job Naruto, you have your resolve now we can begin working on the techniques associated with my shikai state, before you can move forward to your bankai state and lastly the final ****Hyōten Hyakkaso.** (A/N; original technique just like Ichigo's final getsuga tensho but with hyorimaru)" Hyorimaru stated knowing that Naruto was still awake and could hear him. (A/N; you can't really black out when you are sleeping). Hyorimaru healed Naruto's injuries before they began working on the 1st technique called _Ryūsenka_ (dragon hail flower), which freezes any enemy Naruto stabs, locking them into a cocoon of ice and freezing them to the core. Once frozen, Naruto can shatter his opponent.

Six months into training, he decided to try to talk to the kyuubi again to see if they can come to an accord. "Hey kyuubi, you awake?" Naruto asked but it seemed the kyuubi was not cooperating. "HEY FURBALL, YOU STILL SLEEPING OR ARE YOU IGNORING ME HUH?" Naruto shouted. "**SHUT UP NINGEN AND GET OUT OF MY DOMAIN. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOU.**" Kyuubi roared and Naruto sighed, "look kyuubi, I understand that your pretty pissed with me now but you and I have some pretty strong opponents and truthfully even with all the training I've done I still don't know if it will be enough and that scares me more than you tearing me to pieces. I can't do this without you and I would really like your help I want to give a peace offering or something but I don't know what you want, this new seal is awesome and killer bee says that I can still give you freedom within me without those bars holding you down but if I do that, you may go all killer on me. Please kyuubi; I will do anything within reason." "**I WILL CRUSH WHOEVER IS MY ENEMY; YOU INCLUDED NOW GET OUT OF HERE. ROAR.**" Was kyuubi's reply, "Our enemies want to rip you out of me and use you for their own purposes and I assume that they don't want to seal you in someone else since they would be trying to get me on their side instead of trying to capture me? These are S-class missing Nin which is the highest rank of criminals we have second only to beings such as you, bijuu I believe you were called. I believe they want to use you as a puppet as soon as you have been removed from me. They must have been planning and observing you for a while before attempting to do something like this and I don't know if I will be able to defeat them all as I am. Please help me." Naruto tried to bargain and kyuubi was quiet for a while before responding, "**REALEASE ME FROM THIS PRISON AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO DISCUSS AT A LATER DATE. I WILL NOT KILL YOU, FOR NOW, BUT CROSS ME AND I WILL CHANGE MY MIND.**" Kyuubi replies. "Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you. I will not cross you that's a promise. Dattebayo." Wow it has been a while since I said anything like that, Naruto thought.

Naruto raised his hand and it started to glow with chakra before slamming it into his stomach, he twisted it and shouted, "KAI." The bars holding the kyuubi in place started to disappear into dust like they had corroded in a split second. The kyuubi stood and stretched all nine of his tails, before looking down at Naruto who couldn't shake the feeling of dread that came over him the moment those large red slitted eyes focused on him. "**RELAX FLESHING, I GAVE YOU MY WORD AND I WILL KEEP IT. I ALSO WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE HEAR AND FEEL EVERYTHING YOU DO THROUGH YOU, AND THAT IS ALL I ASK FOR NOW. NOW LEAVE MY DOMAIN AND WILL TALK WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED TRAINING.**" Naruto nodded and left to continue training with Hyorimaru who congratulated him on finally getting the kyuubi to work with him. Hyorimaru went on to teach Naruto about other shikai techniques for the remaining six months.

Naruto woke up with a start before looking around him to see where he was, he realized that he hadn't moved since he began training with Hyorimaru and was still high up in Killer bee's mountain. He felt like a whole new different person. He decided to do a review on his sword skills before going to find killer bee.

**FLASHBACK**

He learnt the _Ryūsenka, _The second is _Sennen Hyōrō (_thousand-year ice prison), which forms a multitude of ice pillars using the moisture in the atmosphere. These pillars hold the enemy prisoner for a thousand years, also freezing them. His third technique, _Guncho Tsurara_ (icicle flock), he launches a multitude of ice shards in an attempt to impale his opponent. Battling Hyorimaru into submission, in order to achieve bankai, was a lot harder than he ever thought possible and he still believes that Hyorimaru let him win. The match lasted for five days and nights with hyorimaru dominating the majority of them while taunting him to get him angry. It wasn't until the fifth day that Naruto finally controlled his emotions in battle that he managed to get a good solid hit on hyorimaru. He was freaked out because he tried to act more like Itachi in the fight that he was finally able to do it.

Once per _bankai_ release, a fourth attack, Hyōryū Senbi (Ice Dragon Swirling Tail) allows Naruto to swing his sword in a linear direction and create overflowing ice from his blade in the form of a crescent. Zekku (Void Sever), allows Naruto to control his Hyouryū Senbi technique and send it up into the air. His implied most powerful sword move is called _Hyōten Hyakkaso_ (frozen sky-countless ornate entombment). This attack causes one hundred snowflakes to fall from the sky, freezing anything they touch in a flower like shape. When all one hundred flakes fall, the life of the one trapped by the attack is ended.

Hyorimaru told him that in order to acquire the final Hyōten Hyakkaso he needed to meditate and go into Hyorimaru's own mindscape while in bankai state. "**But beware for a price has to be paid in order to acquire the final attack. You are not ready as of yet, you need to go out into the world and get more experience before you can.**" Hyorimaru stated plainly. "Thank you hyorimaru, I will take my leave now."

**END FLASHBACK**

He stood up and went in search of Killer bee, for some training. "Yo, my man, killer bee, how about a spar full on swords then on to jinchuriki abilities?" Naruto asked. "Ayt, let's do this." Killer bee replied.

As they stood across from each other, Killerbee threw all swords on his back into the air and caught them in all eight swords at once in different parts of the body. "Where's your sword dude, imma smoke you, WHEEEE (A/N; cant rap don't flame me for this)." Naruto stood with his arms folded over his chest before channeling a bit of reiatsu to his back, the only thing he can use reiatsu for, and hyorimaru shimmered into view peeking from his back with a green sash that goes diagonally across his body holding it in place. He pulled out hyorimaru and stood in a very lax but alert stance. Killerbee's eyebrow rose at the fancy summoning before getting ready. A leaf that had been blown off a tree softly landed between them and they used this as their signal to start. Killerbee had four of his swords spin in a very confusing manner in front of Naruto's face while using two swords in his hands to try impaling Naruto who was trying to follow the movements of body trying not to get distracted. Killerbee thrust his two swords towards him but at the last moment he used hyorimaru to deflect both while Killerbee picked up two of the swords that were still spinning in air before starting to do his deadly word dance while getting cuts and scratches on the kyuubi jinchuriki. Naruto was at a loss, he believed that he could take Killerbee on with a single sword but this was ridiculous, without unleashing techniques taught to him by Hyorimaru, hey I need a few secrets from Kumo as well.

Naruto decided that channeling chakra into his sword may give him an edge and that thought was reinforced when he saw Killerbee channeling lightening chakra into one of his swords. Naruto channeled wind chakra into his and he watched with glee as Hyorimaru cut through four of the spinning swords like a knife through butter, since lightening is weaker than wind. Killerbee snorted before using his four remaining swords and increased the pace of his dance of death. He managed to get three hits on the jinchuriki as the match ended.

"You're good, you can beat most swords men here in Kumo and I could tell you were holding back something, but it doesn't matter cause against me, you still need more practice. Now Jinchuriki henge YEAH…" Naruto sweat dropped as he watched Killerbee do his transformation into a giant eight tailed ox. "Well damn that's impressive now check this out," Naruto stated, 'Kyuubi, you ready, just like practiced in the mindscape,' '**YEAH LETS DO THIS**' Naruto raised his hand before got to his '0 tails' state with a yellow flame surrounding him and the seal array all over his body, then the red chakra of the kyuubi started bubbling to surface engulfing him as the tails began forming. By the eighth tail, he was all meat and bones with no skin and when the final tail started forming, skin and fur started to wrap around his body till it was complete to form an extremely large 9 tailed fox. "**WOW DUDE HOW DID YOU GET THE KYUUBI TO AGREE SO FAST, I CAN TELL IT'S YOUR PRESENCE INSIDE THERE AND THE ONLY WAY TO DO THAT IS BY COMING TO AN AGREEMENT? IT TOOK ME A FULL YEAR TO REACH THAT STATE.**" "**WASN'T EASY LET ME TELL YOU BUT YEAH I FINALLY DID IT BUT WE FINALLY CAME TO AN UNDERSTANDING, SO COMMON I NEED PRACTICE FIGHTING IN THIS FORM.**" "**DUDE, IT'S ALL IN THE TAILS MAN, THE TAILS. I ASSUME THAT KYUUBI TOLD YOU HOW TO DO THE IMARI, SHOW ME.**" "**OH YEAH COOL TECHNIQUE, I CAN ALSO DO IT IN MY 0 TAILS FORM, HAHA, IM AWSOME NOW WATCH.**" Various blue and black chakra balls emerged from his body, he managed to collect them in front of him in a ratio of 8:2 before using his tails to compress it and swallowing it, he then fired the Imari from his mouth as it went hurtling into the sky. "**I'M NOT YET AT FULL POWER BUT WITH PRACTICE I WILL BE, LUCKILY THE CONTROL CAN BE SHIFTED BETWEEN KYUUBI AND ME DURING BATTLE, NOW LETS SPAR SO I CAN GET A FELL FOR THIS BODY.**" "**YEAH A BIJUU FIGHT, ITS GONNA BE EXPLOSIVE, WHEEEE…**"

Naruto brought his swordsmanship to a level where he could spar against Killerbee to a standstill the remaining months of his training trip, while still practicing his bijuu henge with killer bee. Jiraya came for him a week before their arrival date in Konoha and decided to test Naruto with a little spar. To say he was surprised was an understatement, the improvement and change in attitude during the match. If he wasn't facing Naruto as they fought, he would have swore that Itachi was speaking. The mere thought gave him shudders. He truly believed that Naruto had surpassed him already, wait till Tsunade-hime and Kakashi gets a load of this, they are gonna flip.

With all said and done, Naruto turned to Killerbee and said, "Thank you for helping me control my bijuu, but I would like to ask a favor, don't tell anyone that my mastery over the kyuubi's chakra is at your level as I would like an edge against the Akatsuki leader and you know how word spreads around." "No prob, brav mek sure you hala whenever you're on the flip side." "Ayt, Ayt, catch you later." With that Jiraya and Naruto started their trek back to Konoha.

A:N THIS IS MY FIRST LONG CHAPTER I WANTED TO GET THAT OUT OF THE WAY BEFORE GETTING TO THE GOOD STUFF, NOW THAT IM HERE THE CHAPTERS ARE MOST PROBABLY GOING TO BE LIKE THIS


	5. Chapter 5: return home part 1

**CHAPTER 5; THE RETURN HOME PART 1**

"Hey Ero-senin?" Naruto asked on the road back to Konoha, "yeah, what is it brat?" "I did it, I completed the yondaimes hirashin seal, when training with Killerbee I found out that my hirashin without a seal only works when in line of sight. I found out how the yondaime used to put a temporary seal marker on his enemies during battle, but I need you and Tsunade-baa chan to help me with a few things." Naruto stated. "What can I do for you?" "I need your help making that temporary seal last longer and also to combine that seal with the chameleon seal to blend in with whoever I put the seal on. I also want to tatoo a seal onto your body so that incase you need a quick escape route and are hard pressed you can summon me and I get us both out of there." "Sheesh, you may have become supper strong but your still the same dumb blond you always were. That should take me about two minutes tops to complete everything you told me. I thought I taught you well." "hai, hai. You did teach me well but alots been on my mind. Kinda hard to concentrate. Lets take a break while you show me the seals."

"There, done, all you had to do was draw the longetivity seal and the chameleon seal ontop of your hirashin seal in that order. Now tell me whats been bothering you." Jiraya said as he did the finishing touches on the new improved seal. "I figure its about time I fullfilled my promise to sakura. I'm gonna get sasuke back quick and painless as soon as I can. Oh that reminds me, I need one of your special seals that you prepared for me incase I ost control of the kyuubi. I figure that if it was strong enough to take my chakra down, it should be able to completely seal off the chakra of a normal person. Even with his curse seal active." "No, it wont affect him since it was ment to work for jinchurikis but I have a seal that can do what you are looking for, will leave him parralized as an added bonus, as long as the seal is on." "Perfect, now all I have to do is go to the anbu prison and put a hirashin seal in there. Then touch him even once on any part of his body ofcourse. Alright lets head on back, I wanna talk to Tsunade-baa chan."

Later that night, "Alright welcome home brat, lets go talk to Tsunade-hime. She's the only other person in all of Konoha that your going to tell about controlling the kyuubi, am I right?" "Damn, you can still read me like a book. One of these days I promise, you wont be able to do that. Hmm…" Naruto ranted. "Your 1000 years too young to do that and ive been with you too long. Now lets get this over with so that I can get back to whats important." Jiraya finished nodding his head in a sage like manner. Naruto cocked a brow at this until jiraya answered his un asked question, "RESEARCH, gigigigi." Naruto sweat dropped but none the less answered, "you never do change do you, huh. Lets go over to baa-chan's office."

Signing into the village left comical expressions on the two guards, Kotetsu and Izuma, who after a second realised just who had entered back into the village and with a final wave, the two left to the Hokage tower in the middle of the village. "Hey baa-chan we are ho…" Naruto left the sentence hanging as he watched one Tsunade doing paperwork while muttering curses under her breath, watching another Tsunade sleeping on the desk with drool coming out her mouth. He heard another snore coming from the couch in the office only to see another Tsunade sleeping while holding onto a sake bottle much like a small child holds their teddy bears in sleep. He burst out laughing a second later, alerting the Tsunade still doing paperwork of his presence. "Na…Naruto, you came back oh I'm glad to see you. Looking more handsome too, bet your going to be getting fangirls pretty soon hehe. Wait one second as I wake up original, im tired of doing paperwork." With that she walked over to the couch, shaking the real Tsunade awake. That is ofcourse before Tsunade sent a punch at the offending intruder dispelling the shadow clone. "Damn clones, I swear they wake me up just so that they get dispelled not to do paperwork. Wait a second, Naruto, hey Naruto." She realised mid rant organising her clones memories that Naruto was still laughing at the door way.

She organised herself to give herself a more dignified look before going up and huging the blond jinchuriki. "ahh, im glad to see you made it back home safe. HEY GET UP AND CONTINUE DOING PAPERWORK.I DIDN'T CREATE YOU TO GO BACK TO SLEEP." Tsunade shouted to the last remaining clone before turning back to Naruto. "So I expect you had a good training trip." "ofcourse he had a good training trip, he had me, the greatest super pervert in all elemental countries with him, didn't he?" Jiraya said as he made his entrance trough the window. "huh don't remind me, so Naruto give me a brief overview of how strong you have become." Tsunade said while facing Naruto, completely missing jiraya who had cuddled his knees in the corner having turned as white as a sheet, crying anime tears while muttering 'so cold, so cold, so cold' over and over again.

"okay but first, send the ANBU out of here and put up a silencing jutsu." She gave the slightest nod before three puffs were heard signaling the depature of the three Anbu guards. The walls in the room glowed light blue for a split second before she gave him the okay to continue. "Okay, first you must understand that my enemies are some of the best and I'm going to tell you all my skills so no one should hear about this. you understand this right." He paused as he waited for bith their nods as Jiraya wasn't always with him on the trip. "where should I start, hmm, my taijutsu is good considering I can go toe to toe with ero-sennin for 4 hours straight without any special add-ons. I completed the rasengan and odama rasengan. Can use a high level shunshin or low level transportation technique depending on how you look at it,(A/N; what sasuke uses when he first met deidara and tobi)when in a normal a new S-class ninjutsu called the futon rasengan which injures the users chakra pathways greatly, before improving on said technique, upgrading from a short range to a long range techinque that I names futon rasen-shuriken…oh yeah, im just that good."

The two remaining loyal Sannins had identical sweat drops at the back of their heads as Naruto said this. "Anyway where was I, yeah, I practiced kenjutsu in kumo till I was told that I had surpassed their all their Jonins but one, Killerbee who we can go on for 5 hours straight before either one of us gets even one hit and he is the best kumo has." "Mate, Mate, Mate… Killerbee taught you kenjutsu, wow but where is your sword. I havent seen anything like a storage seal on you. Where are you keepin…" Jiraya's words got stuck as Hyorimaru fazed into view peeking over his shoulder. "that is a whole other story, but I am getting there so would you please let me finish?" At their nod he continued.

"I also perfected my summon combination ninjutsu with me being a wind elemental master at the levels with Suna jonin. I became a seal master and toad sage like ero-sennin here but with thanks to my chakra reserves and shadow clones, I nolonger need the toads to get into my sennin mode." Tsunade had a goad smacked expression on her face. At this level he could probably battle any of the sannin to a stand still. She looked to Jiraya fir confirmation of her thoughts. "yeah he already surpassed me in the fighting part of being a ninja. If he was a super pervert with a spy network he would be perfect. Naruto go on I know it isnt over."

"Yeah, lets see, Hyorimaru, he is a sentient sword that can control ice and comes with his own set of ninjutsu. I wont get into that now, but know that there is only one final technique that I am yet to master. I have completed all otheres. Also this sword is indestructible and can also be used and summoned by me only." He stated nonchalantly. "Wow, wait a second, where did you get the sword?" Tsunade asked.

"oh yeah I forgot about that, Hyorimaru used to be the seal used to keep the kyuubi at bay. When I defeated the kyuubi and took control of its power, I managed to use the seal as a weapon. Oh I'm also an ultimate sensor type and can also use the hirashin when in my kyuub mode." He stated coolly while Tsunade was doing a good job immitating a fish. The flash of a camera took her out of her stupor. "its just simply not possible to make that kind of improvement so fast." "That's what I keep saying, im simply AWSOME, anyway, the way I figured, I use my shunshin,taijutsu, futon techniques,rasengan, odama rasengan and MAYBE Hyorimaru on opponents like on kakashi-sensie's level. Those jutsus,futon rasen-shuriken and sage mode with mild kyuubi chakra on people like Itachi. Saving my all levels of kyuubi's chakra as a special present for the leader of Akatsuki and madara uchiha who was responsible for the kyuubi attack. I have a feeling that he is the leader of Akatsuki by the way."

"That's a lot of info, but, I can take madara as the cause of the kyuubi attack, but why do you say Akatsuki?" Tsunade asked. "well I don't think that he lived long enough to summon kyuubi only to die of a heart attack or old age, I think he is immortal and since he has used kyuubi before, I think he wants 'his' weapon back. We all know how Uchiha act."

"Alright now that that is out of the way," Naruto bowed low infront of the Hokage. "please teach me a strong genjutsu that can hide my '0 tails' state. I can use hirashin in this state and I want to use it to get sasuke back from orochimaru the next time I see him but I don't want him to know that it was even me. I want to do it so fast that he just wakes up in a cell but incase he looks in my direction, my ultimate move is ruined. So please teach me one of your stong genjutsus." Naruto asked. "what do you mean Naruto?" tsunade asked while eyeing Naruto akwardly. "Just watch." Naruto raised his arm in the very familiar fashion to him and he heard a loud gasp from Tsunade while sensing fear from her.

"Don't worry baa-chan, this is me in my 0 tails state and as you can see, it doesn't help with stealth. I believe that this is my most powerful state as I can do the kyuubi's ultimate technique, the Imari, and I am still small and fast. I can also feel all emotions around me. I can also transform into the actual body of the kyuubi, but that's for later. So please." Naruto stated. "Alright, alright I will teach you the technique that makes me look young. But it does nothing for clothes so your on your own there." Naruto smiled. "That's all I ask. Okay we are done here. Jiraya could you go put those seals into Sasuke's bedroom in the ANBU prison and I will stay here the rest of the night with baa-chan to learn this before going to sleep in the morning. Ja ne." "Ja ne, I will talk to you later tomorrow tsunade-hime."Jiraya stated.

With that Naruto worked on his genjutsu in his 0 tails trough-out the night till he he got an odinary look that doesn't stand out and when coupled with an ANBU mask, Sasuke will never know what hit him, haha. At the break of dawn he left the Hokage building looking up to the Hokage mornument, specifically at his jiji's(grand dad) and oyaji's(dad) faces and said, "All pieces are now on the board, jiji, thanks for the advice, oyaji,thanks for the help, now let this match begin." And with that he walked off into the yellow sunrise, ready to face orochimaru and Akatsuki (red dawn).


	6. Chapter 6: return home part 2

Disclaimer; I do not own Naruto, not now not ever.

**CHAPTER 6: RETURN HOME 2**

Naruto's apartment was dusty, not as dusty as he would have expected but dusty none the less, 'someone must have been cleaning it occasionally,' he thought. He left a couple of clones to clean it and went off to training field seven, his old teams training ground, to get relax and take a breather. He hadn't thought much about his friends since the beginning of the trip, 'Sakura must have been training with Tsunade baa-chan this whole time, Hinata too. Sasuke is off with Orochimaru, who should also be preparing for his body-transfer jutsu, I hope that we make it in time.' He thought as he lay on one of the tree branches letting himself drift off into sleep. 'Sasuke…, I wonder if he still thinks of team seven, I have to get him back home.'

**3 hours ago;**

'Gaara, the kazekage, has just been kidnapped by the Akatsuki and Kankuro, Gaara's brother, has just ran after them, he isn't thinking strait, 'these people abducted the Kazekage, the strongest person in Suna, even though he wasn't fighting at full power, that should be an indication that he can't take them on without a team, we need reinforcements. I have to ask for help from Konoha.' Baki, the head of Suna's military forces, thought to himself as he buzzed in the Kazekage's secretary from outside the office. "Prepare a medical room for injured fighters, I get the feeling that Kankuro is in trouble, also prep the fastest messenger hawk we have, I am going to ask for help from Konoha, now."

As he finished writing in the scroll, the messenger bird landed on the window sill. He tied the scroll onto its leg and commanded it, "To Konoha, now." He watched the bird fly away hoping that Konoha will be able to help them before anything drastic happens to Gaara.

**Now;**

Jiraya had just reached Naruto's home and found his clones doing housekeeping, "Gaara has just been abducted by the Akatsuki, teams seven has been given the rescue mission, hurry and go to Tsunade's office, you will find your teammates getting the mission parameters from there." In a quick move, Jiraya punched the kage buunshin in the gut and let it disperse.

Naruto woke with a start, falling off the tree branch in the process, and used his high speed shunshin and appeared in the Hokage's office, "sorry I am late, ero-sennin just let me know about the situation." "Its okay, Kakashi, Sakura, this is your last teammate for this mission, Naruto. I had wanted to test him to get a feel for his current power level but because of this mission, I am going to have to take your word for it. There is no time to waste, head to Suna now." Tsunade said. "HAI," they all replied in unison.

Two hours later, the newly dubbed team Kakashi was speeding for the fire-wind country boarder and Naruto had not said a word. With ninjas, this would have been absolutely normal but since this was Naruto, his teammates were rather baffled. "H…hey Naruto, is something the matter, I mean other than Gaara's situation?" Sakura asked, "No, I am okay, I just feel like we need to focus on this seeing as Gaara helped send me a few scrolls during training so I feel like I owe him and can't let him down." "Oh, okay… it is nice to see you again by the way; I bet you've grown really powerful from when you left." "Yeah, I went to all kinds of places for training, I truly feel like I am that much closer to becoming the Hokage." "Oh, that's good to know, Hinata and I are now Tsunade-shisho's apprentices. This is my first real mission as a full medic-nin with Kakashi-sensei. I mean sure I went on other missions in that time but this is the first mission as a full med-nin. This mission will be inters…"

As Naruto and Sakura talked, Kakashi was studying Naruto from his new looks to his posture and he wasn't sure if his senses were wrong but they were telling him that Naruto is strong and maybe even stronger than he was. The idea was almost comical but he couldn't shake the feeling that Naruto was always aware of his surroundings and he doesn't let his guard drop. Kakashi wanted to have a spar with him but time was of the essence, they needed to get to Suna and fast, "let us increase pace you two, we need to see the Suna gates by tomorrow noon and at this pace, we will be late." "Hai." All talk ceased as they increased speed.

At the border, they met Temari, Gaara's sister and she joined them speeding to her home, having idle chatter with the team. They run nonstop till they reached the gates of Suna, where they were welcomed by Baki himself who also wanted to tell Temari of her second brother's loss to the Akatsuki. Luckily for Kankuro, Sakura was a chief medic in Konoha so she was put on the case of reviving him and three gruesome hours later, Kankuro was conscious again having had all poison in his body medically removed. Kankuro, upon his awakening, gave Kakashi a piece of cloth from one of the Akatsuki, Sasori of the red sands, to help track him to find where he took Gaara. Kankuro scanned the occupants of the room and once his eyes fell on Naruto, he knew that Gaara may just be saved after all. "N…Naruto, please save him." He said just as he fell asleep. "Hai, you get some rest and leave the rest to me Naruto Uzumaki."

Team Kakashi prepped for the mission in silence and all eyes were on Naruto, the other members of team seven were wondering how he is taking this whole situation, after all, these were his enemies too and they had just abducted one of his close friends so why is he on the mission. Their thoughts were interrupted as they saw Naruto suddenly look upwards, they followed his gaze and they saw an old lady getting ready to jump off a tall building, 'I didn't even detect her presence until he looked up, just how much stronger have you become, Naruto.' Kakashi thought to himself. The old lady jumped off the building and landed soundlessly on the floor, she looked up and addressed them, "My name is Chiyo, the Suna council decided that they need all active shinobis to stay in the village since we are recovering from an invasion. Luckily for you, I'm not an active shinobi and my grandson, Sasori of the red sands, is one of your opponents. Before he left, he was a puppet user, the best the village had to offer and I taught him what he knows, you will need me on this mission." Her voice was soft, just like a grandmother's should be and yet it was authoritative and demanded respect. "You, your father killed my son and his wife, Sasori's parents, I am not sure if he is the sentimental type but you had better look out, Sasori just may target you." She said to Kakashi as she abruptly turned to face him. "Hai, got it, let's move out."

Team Kakashi crossed the desert plains in a day, coming to stop in a grassy field to gather their strength before moving to take on the Akatsuki, "We will camp here tonight and resume tomorrow," Kakashi stated. A messenger bird, swooped in delivering a message to Kakashi from Konoha, he pulled off the message and read it, "It says here that Tsunade-sama decided to send us back up, team Gai, I will send out one of my summons to show them of where we the Akatsuki base is, Kuchiyose no jutsu." A small pug dog appeared and Kakashi gave it instructions to meet up with team Gai and direct them to Gaara's scent. The dog exchanged pleasantries with Naruto and Sakura, and then left on its way.

"We will take watch in shifts, Naruto your up first for an hour then Sakura followed by Chiyo Baa-sama and I will take up the last two hours. Set up the camp." Kakashi ordered, they had a light meal and went to sleep. Naruto perched up on a tree branch and stared up at the moon, things were moving abit fast but that was ok, he thought back to the time he had in Konoha before the training trip with Jiraya, 'The path I am going down is a lonely path that very few can go, dad lost to Madara because Madara had leverage using me, I cannot allow him to exploit me in the same way, somehow the spark between Sakura and I no longer exists really, I'm not sure if it ever existed in the first place, hmm, I guess it is advantageous in my position. Sasuke, that fool is about to be taken over by Orochimaru, I cannot let that happen but he has probably been training to reach Itachi's level, I wonder if I can incapacitate him without doing too much harm, I highly doubt that I will be able to just knock him out. Damn, no use worrying about this now, I will just have to take him out when I see him.'

"Naruto, your shift is over, you can go to sleep now," Sakura said from behind him, "Naruto, do you ever wonder, about Sasuke I mean, if he will settle down if we get him back and Itachi has been dealt with?" "'When' not 'if', when we get him back, I truly do not know, he allowed his hate to consume him already and I don't know if he will ever be able to let it go, but I do know one thing, he will be brought back to Konoha, all we have to worry about is the time when he is brought back." Naruto answered, "Thanks Naruto, I needed to hear you say that, now go to sleep, we have a big day ahead of us." "Goodnight Sakura." It was at that moment that she realized that Naruto had grown up, ever since they had been reunited, he hadn't once used the customary chan suffix to her name, "G…goodnight."

* * *

><p>Morning came and the ninja left the camp, they had been moving for six hours nonstop when Naruto felt someone enter within his sensory range at that state. "Wait, I detect someone coming, whoever it is, is strong, I could barely feel their repressed chakra." They all stopped moving at once when someone walked out of the bushes about fifty meters ahead of them, his signature black Akatsuki cloak with red clouds waving as a breeze blew past him, he met their gaze and spoke, "Hello Naruto, you are coming with me."<p>

* * *

><p>Please review.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7: meeting akatsuki

Chapter 7;

'The total amount of his chakra is about Kakashi-sensei's level, that isn't right; you don't become an s-class missing Nin with that amount of chakra, so this can't be the real Itachi,' Naruto thought to himself. Itachi slowly raised his arm and pointed towards Naruto, "the Akatsuki will have the kyuubi." He said in his eerie monotonous voice, it was then that Naruto detected a genjutsu cast on him, 'how? I made sure not to look into his eyes, how did he do thi… the ring, when he pointed at me that must be it, I have to break out of this. Kyuubi, don't do anything, he may detect that we are stronger than what im going to show, even if he's just a clone.' '**FINE BRAT,**' kyuubi replied.

The world started to shift before his eyes, 'damn I gotta get out of here, guess I will have to do this the old fashioned way.' Just as Itachi was beginning to materialize inside the genjutsu, Naruto cut his chakra flow, connected it, cut it and connected it again. This took a fraction of a second and the genjutsu wavered till it he couldn't detect a genjutsu anymore. He was still in the same place as before and one look at his comrades told him that they were all ready for battle, 'that was fast.'

Itachi looked to Naruto who had broken out of his genjutsu before it was fully ready to root itself in his sub-consciousness, 'he has gotten stronger.' His lips curved slightly upwards at that prospect, 'maybe he will be able to help Sasuke.' With that, he looked to Kakashi who was pulling out a kunai to battle him, Kakashi threw the kunai and Itachi leant backwards while performing three signature hand signs to the Uchiha, as the kunai sailed past his head, he bent forwards and blew out, "Katon, Gokakyuu no jutsu." The massive fireball headed for Kakashi and it was moving too fast for Kakashi to jump out of the way.

Naruto, Sakura and Chiyo jumped out of the way and took to the trees to conceal their locations from Itachi. The smoke was just clearing from the area where Kakashi once stood revealing a hole going underground, the three ninja in the trees looked to Itachi waiting to see Kakashi's game plan. Kakashi burst from the ground in front of Itachi trying to give him an uppercut but Itachi was faster. Itachi tilted his head backwards to let Kakashi sail past him, reached out and grabbed a hold of Kakashi's outstretched arm, pulled him back to the ground and using his other arm, tried to punch Kakashi. Using his sharingan, Kakashi predicted this move so he tilted his head to the side but it didn't matter since Itachi's outstretched arm grabbed the back of his head and forced Kakashi to look into his eyes, hence casting a genjutsu on Kakashi.

* * *

><p>Within the genjutsu;<p>

Kakashi looked at his body only to find that it was paper-like, his body started to burn from the feet going upwards. It was then that Itachi sighed, "You are a skilled ninjutsu user, you concealed yourself with that doton and I didn't notice until it was too late." "I wouldn't expect you to be affected by this genjutsu, you are a kage buunshin."

* * *

><p>Back to the real world;<p>

"Naruto, take him out with my kage buunshin." Kakashi ordered as he came out of the hole he was hiding in. "Got it." Naruto began charging towards the two figures while simultaneously forming an odama rasengan in his hand.

The ground behind Itachi crumbled under the pressure caused by hitting Itachi with the odama rasengan and the resulting tremor moved for kilometers away from their location, birds flew away from the affected area and Itachi had a small grin grace his features as he thought about Sasuke's best friend.

Sakura, Chiyo and Kakashi were all astonished as they saw the destruction caused by this jutsu, it was then that they heard a gasp coming from said caster of the jutsu only to find him looking at what was supposed to be Itachi's dead body only to find a Suna nin called Yura, who was in charge of defense in Suna at the time of the Akatsuki attack. Chiyo was a little put off by the fact that there were spies in Suna but there were more important things to discuss with her new team.

"This was obviously a delay tactic by the Akatsuki, they must have already begun extracting the Shukaku and this was just to buy enough time for them to finish uninterrupted. I fear that they may want to create another jinchuriki, one that they can control." Chiyo said to them. 'That certainly seems plausible but I doubt it, it just doesn't seem big enough, I need to find the root for all this.' Naruto thought to himself. "Jinchuriki, what is that?" Sakura asked. "It's the name given to people that have had Bijuu sealed within them, they were very advantageous during war, the power of a bijuu controlled by a person." Chiyo answered. Sakura seemed to be having an internal conflict for a while until she finally spoke in a low voice, "H…how do you even remove a bijuu from a person?" This caught Naruto's interest, "If for an instant, a sealing jutsu which releases the exact amount of power to match up with the bijuu's is used," Chiyo answered, "that takes up a considerable amount of time, but if that were to be done, the jinchuriki would…"

"Die," Naruto completed for her, "we have no time to lose, let's go save Gaara." With that, Naruto jumped into the trees and headed for Gaara's location. Sakura stayed in position a while longer with her vision being obscured with the formation of tears, just realizing the danger that Naruto is in, she would think about this later, she had a mission to complete and so she too jumped into the trees and followed the rest of the team.

* * *

><p>With the real Itachi;<p>

"It seems yours is finished," Kisame said to his partner, "Yeah, the chakra's been cut off," Itachi replied, "But delaying them was enough."

"I am about to engage the second team right now, so at least the kyuubi jinchuriki will be delayed farther by the seals, there is nothing to worry about."

"The chakra we gave to the sacrifices was about 30 percent, wasn't it?" Kisame spoke after a while, "even though it's a convenient jutsu that produces the same bodies as our own, the amount of chakra taken and passed over isn't that significant. So, in proportion, our strength and jutsu we can use are limited." With that, Itachi faced away from Kisame and shut his eyes, 'but it seems like we weren't the only ones not fighting at full strength, the speed with which Naruto broke free from my genjutsu is bothersome.'

* * *

><p>Back with Naruto;<p>

The team and Chiyo had just landed in front of the large boulder that blocked the entrance to the cave in which Gaara's bijuu, Shukaku, was being extracted.

"Team Gai should be here soon, it is not advisable to enter there without backup." Kakashi ordered, "I am afraid that that is impossible, Kakashi-sensei" Naruto replied. "Explain." Kakashi stated, leaving no room for games.

"Team Gai has encountered resistance just like we did a few moments ago; I know this because I can detect multiple large chakra outputs that are fluctuating, indicating that there is a fight going on, at the edge of my sensory range which is about 250 meters." This left the rest of the team at a complete loss of speech, temporarily of course.

'Damn, my current range is only at 100 meters and I was an ANBU CAPTAIN…' Kakashi thought, 'wow, it was like we are talking to a whole different person, the way he replied Kakashi-sensei, it's like we are strangers to him just accompanying him on this mission, that was too creepy.' Sakura thought to herself.

"Well then, waiting here is ill advised, the Kazekage is running out of time, first we will have to find a way to remove the seal on the boulder and if I am correct, that is a five point seal, that means that there are four others like this in the surrounding area, we will have to find them quickly." Kakashi gave out the new orders as soon as he regained his voice. "I agree with Kakashi, but how do we find the other seals?" Chiyo asked. 'Neji's byakugan would be tremendously useful right about now, hmm maybe the person who created them left a scent trail and I can track them like that.' Kakashi thought to himself.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed as he summoned a toad, "Gamakichi, I need you to locate a team about 240 meters in that direction, tell them that their opponent is an advanced henge, and step to it." Naruto then straightened up as the toad leapt off then channeled chakra to his feet and climbed the boulder to get a better look at the seal. All was silent for a few seconds as the rest of his team was wondering what he was up to, Naruto looked back to his team and spoke, "I can tell from the way this seal is designed that the others will be absolutely anywhere and we may even spend a day looking for them, but I have a solution to our problems so give me a minute."

Naruto created a kage buunshin and pulled out a scroll from his pockets, he unsealed a pot of ink and two brushes, handed one to the clone and got to work. Down below, Sakura had her bottom jaw at her feet while Kakashi's only visible eye widened as they watched Naruto the dead last from the academy drawing seals for something this complex.

Two minutes later Naruto back flipped off the boulder and landed next to Kakashi, "the seals, no matter where they are, are connected by chakra strings and the seal that I have just drawn will pull on these chakra strings hence tearing them all off at the same time, we have to destroy that boulder as soon as my clone activates the seal." Naruto stated ignoring the obvious shock on Sakura's face and the famous eye smile on Kakashi.

"I didn't know that you were a seal master, but why didn't you say something?" Kakashi asked, "Simple, you never asked," replied Naruto, "and this is the first opportunity that it was needed, now let us get back to the mission." "Hai, Hai. Sakura, you are in charge of destroying the boulder once Naruto activates the seal, remember the timing has to be just right so we are going to give you a running start and Naruto activates his seal as soon as you connect with the boulder now go." Kakashi ordered.

Sakura ran back while the Naruto clone prepared himself, the rest of the team stationed themselves at the side of the entrance to be ready once the boulder gave way. Kakashi raised his hand to Sakura and gave her the command to go.

"SHANARO!" was Sakura's war cry just before she decimated the large rock. The team jumped inside the cave to find the Akatsuki still in the process of extracting Shukaku from Gaara. Most members of the Akatsuki were shocked, if their wide eyes were anything to go by, that they were able to enter the cave so quickly.

The team was shocked to be able to witness what the extraction process looked like; there was a giant humanoid entity out of the ground with only its upper torso and shackled arms visible and its back a number of spike-like protrusions. Nine dragon-like effigies came out of its mouth that connected to Gaara's body that was levitating in the air. Gaara looked to be in absolute agony, opening his mouth in a silent scream while the members of the Akatsuki watched silently standing on each of the statue's fingers.

Naruto narrowed his eyes on Gaara's body as he noticed that the trail of Shukaku's chakra, going into the mouth of the statue, was getting thinner and thinner indicating that the Akatsuki were almost finished.

"Fuck that shit that ends now." Naruto said suddenly, breaking the rest of his team from their stupors, it was then that everyone noticed a Naruto kage buunshin charging for the only open eye of the statue armed with a rasengan, "Deidara, Sasori, stop him now." One of the projections, with ringed eyes as his most notable feature, ordered the only two members of Akatsuki that were actually in the cave.

Deidara launched a small clay bird at Naruto who in an impressive show of acrobatic skills twisted his body so that the bird would bypass him but unfortunately, the bird exploded. The buunshin had to alter course by using the wall as a stepping stone to get to the statue faster and avoid damage from the flying explosive.

The buunshin hit the statue's forehead causing a minor tremor in the caves which in turn caused a large low hanging cone shaped rock to fall through the dragon effigies, disrupting the extraction process.

"Sasori, Deidara, take care of them and take the kyuubi hostage," ordered the same projection, "we will complete the extraction process after this nuisance has been taken care of." With that, the remaining projections faded from view leaving only the two members that kidnapped the kazekage.

Deidara formed a large clay owl that scooped the unconscious Gaara in its mouth and sat on its head before speaking, "well I guess you there," pointing at Naruto, "are the kyuubi jinchuriki right?"

"Well looks like you did your homework, what, you want a cookie?" Naruto shot back, "Hmm, you have jokes huh, well let's see who will laugh once I introduce you to my art, hmm."

'hmm, that is sharingan no Kakashi, the son of Konoha's white fang, I want to face him.' "Deidara, I will take sharingan no Kakashi and elder Chiyo, you take the kyuubi jinchuriki and the girl."

Deidara's face breaks out into a grin, "Perfect, you will now witness true art, hmm."

* * *

><p>-END-<p>

* * *

><p>Pliz review<p> 


End file.
